Rosedale Farm: 19th century mansion’s lavish overhaul
A 19th century mansion in country NSW is being lovingly transformed into a lavish showpiece by owners intent on creating their dream home.
With its abandoned gold mine, extensive nursery wing and grisly old butchery, the 220 acre Rosedale Farm estate seemed an odd choice for a couple of city boys intent on a slick renovation.
But interior stylist Steve Cordony’s dream home was indeed the rundown, 1877-built Georgian mansion Rosedale – once a thriving 3300 acre cattle station deep in the heart of the NSW Central West.
Cordony and his partner, Coca-Cola Amatil sales executive Michael Booth, are gradually converting the estate just outside the scenic township of Orange into a stunning country showpiece, complete with chandeliers imported from France and wallpaper shipped in from Paris and Los Angeles.
The pair are now more than two-thirds through the renovation of the grand double-storey house just outside the historic mining town, which is also home to their English cocker spaniel, Louie, a pair of black and white shire (a British breed of draught) horses, and various ducks, geese, chickens and guinea fowl, as well as Pedro the peacock and Lucy, a 280kg pet pig.
“I wanted a big, old white house,” says Cordony, a scion of Sydney’s Cordony construction family. “We almost bought a place in Berrima, NSW – it was more of a humble cottage – but then we saw this and fell in love with it. It’s definitely a much bigger project but it’s our dream home.
“We were searching for three years; we bought this place within three weeks.”
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Since Cordony and Booth bought Rosedale in 2017, around 27,000 trees have been planted in its English-style gardens; the artificial lake has been relined and the grounds manicured to within an inch of their life. The former stables have been converted into a grand poultry house, with a full-time caretaker minding the farm animals when Booth and Cordony are in Sydney.
On advice from a landscape architect, the pair have unfurled the house garden from 1.5 acres to an enormous 9.5 acres, planting lush vegetable plots. Scores of Lombardy poplars, elms, liquid ambers and maples dot the grounds, while topiaried buxus in large ornate urns line the entranceways. Hardy ornamental pear trees are ranged along the driveway leading from the dusty old backroad up to the grand house.
“We have planted these English-style trees to get the true four seasons,” Booth says.
Inside, the renovation continues apace, helped along by glittering vintage chandeliers imported from the South of France and the latest European wallpaper.
“By the time we are almost dead the place will start to look beautiful,” Cordony laughs.
But he is being coy. Rosedale’s renovated rooms boast sumptuous decor, with the construction work helped along by Cordony’s father Chris and brother Adam, both seasoned builders. With the help of a local builder, Rosedale has been rewired and plumbed and its eight bedrooms have been reduced to six.
The homestead’s fireplaces have been swept, and many of the mansion’s poky rooms were opened up to achieve a cleaner layout. This is to better show off the wooden furniture Cordony has sourced from upmarket auction houses such as Vickers & Hoad and Graham Geddes Antiques. Among the pieces is a magnificent ebonised armoire, which takes pride of place in Rosedale’s just completed dining room.
Upstairs, Rosedale’s nursery wing is being converted into a grand master bedroom suite for the pair, who preside in the glamorous Sydney beachside suburb of Tamarama during the week. A Carrara marble clad ensuited bathroom with stone mosaic floor tiling has been installed.
The pair have torn down the house’s old wallpaper, redesigned the main kitchen in Shaker style, with French oak, Ralph Lauren lighting and bespoke deep charcoal green cabinetry. There’s also a sumptuous new downstairs loo papered with the latest creation from Paris. The dining room’s wallpaper has been sourced from the London- and Istanbul-based Iksel decorative arts company.
“Everyone loves this wallpaper in the dining room,” Cordony says. “It could have been so polarising, but it works; everyone from the builder loves it.”
Mercifully, given that Rosedale costs up to six figures a year to run, the homestead’s original wooden floors remain in situ, but many of the decorative cornices disappeared at the hands of the previous owners. In another bonus, the homestead’s original cedar staircase and cedar doors are still in good condition.
Cordony, who is the style director for Belle magazine, admits that one of the first things he and Booth did was rip up the mint and turquoise staircase carpet in a bid to introduce a more monochromatic palette. “[The previous owners] were simple people; they lived simply,” he says diplomatically.
However pinning him down on the interior style he is employing at Rosedale is not so easy. “I wanted to contemporise the home,” he says. “My look is a dichotomy between contemporary and traditional. I wanted a sense of theatricality. I am not Hamptons, nor am I Cape Cod. I don’t want my style pinpointed.
Cordony does concede that he is a fan of luxe hotels, particularly highly acclaimed interior designer Kit Kemp’s Firmdale Hotels, saying he loves the chintz.
“I will put a chandelier above the new bath, to introduce an ultra-luxe element,” he says.
But the drought has cruelled Booth’s plans to open an onsite nursery and at great expense the pair have dug seven bore holes throughout the property, looking for water – to no avail. One of the reasons they plumped for Orange was its propensity for consistent rainfall but that is not the case at present.
They are also intent on renovating Rosedale’s old servants’ quarters, which presently house the large meat room, store rooms and a kitchen at the rear of the main house. The plan is to convert the section into two luxurious self-contained spaces for paying guests. They also envisage hosting private events at Rosedale, including significant birthdays, weddings and corporate functions.
Such has been the success of the property’s interior that Booth is scouring overseas real estate magazines and listings for a similar restoration project. “Michael is already looking for a place in Italy,” Cordony says with a grin.